“They were large blocks and people realised they would need access to the back of their properties.

“Laneways were for rubbish, sewerage collection, some were privately owned — they were almost part of the property. And they were where all the things happened that you wanted out of sight. Over time they attracted undesirables, criminals.”

Two particular laneways side-by-side were a haven for criminal activity in the 1870s — Romeo Lane and Juliet Terrace.

Home to Melbourne’s red light district, one was for the ladies and the other for the gents of the night.

Little more than 100m long, the pair of star-crossed laneways led to Bilking Square, named after the practise of sex workers bilking, or stealing, from prospective customers.

The “disorderly behaviour” — as described in a January, 1871 edition of The Argus newspaper — became so bad that plain clothed police swept in to investigate. In a single day, almost 50 people were arrested.

A front page drawing of a brawl, titled ‘Another Stabbing Case’, from The Citizen newspaper on October 13, 1877. Picture: National Library of Australia

Among the “thieves, bullies, and women of the town of the lowest class” was Ellen Donovan, better known as the “Bull Pup”.

The Argus described her as someone “so ugly now, being a squat … woman, about 4ft high, and nearly as broad”.

But the Bull Pup had once been queen of the underworld of Canvas Town, the tent city built during the gold rush at South Melbourne in the 1850s.